TELGEN VACATION REPORT

Holland, April 2001

Oude Kerk (Old Church), Delft, Holland We had a fairly busy winter and spring, so we weren't able to fit in another long holiday during David's Easter break. It's only a short (and cheap) flight to Amsterdam, however, and as late April is peak tulip time, we thought we'd pay another visit to the Netherlands. We ended up staying in Delft (noted for its blue-and-white pottery), and travelled from place to place by the efficient and timely Dutch train system.

As you can see from this picture, Delft (located between the Hague and Rotterdam) is another Dutch city laced with lovely canals. Here you can see the Oude Kerk (Old Church) reflected in the center of the canal that ran along the street where our hotel was. Your eyes are not fooling you, the church does list a little to the left. The Old Church dates back to 1246, although there has been a church on the site since approximately 1050. And yes, there is a Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) in Delft as well, The tower of this "modern" edifice was completed in 1496, one hundred years after construction begun. The tower gives lovely views of the city, and the church itself is affiliated with the royal house of Orange-Nassau. The first to be buried there was Prince William of Orange (great-grandfather to the William who became co-ruler of England in 1689), after he was assassinated in 1584 during Holland's struggle against Spanish rule. (You can see the actual spot where this happened, in Delft's Prinsenhof, now a city museum.) The royal burial vaults in Breda were in the hands of the Spanish, so he was buried in Delft, and now the church serves as the last resting place for members of the royal family.

David as "the fountainhead," Keukenhof Gardens, Holland Before heading off to see tulips, we spent some time in Utrecht. The highlights there included the semi-ruined Domkerk, whose nave was destroyed by a hurricane in 1674; now a street runs between the tower and transept. The National Museum of musical clocks and street organs was another interesting place, full of intricate machinery and unusual sounds. To see an automated machine play four violins at once was something to behold!

The next day was brisk but clear, so we hopped the train to Leiden, then caught a bus to the famous gardens of the Keukenhof. The park covers an area of 32 hectares (86 acres), planted with various bulbs (tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, narcissus) in a myriad of colors. The grounds also include four pavilions where there are further displays; one was filled with hundreds of different orchids and was just spectacular. The outdoors displays were outstanding, as well, as you can see from the picture. The frustrated gardener in me (not much scope for planting when you rent) wanted to head straight to the purchase booths for some bulbs. But it's just as well I didn't, since I couldn't decide which I wanted more: apricot or deep violet hyacinths? Bright pink or amazingly red-and-yellow striped tulips? There were almost more varieties than you could imagine, and we had a lovely day for wandering around. (So did many other people. Evidently the garden attracts around 100,000 visitors a week during the spring blooming season.)

traditional windmill in Leiden, Holland You can only hold a seven-year-old's attention for so long in a garden, however, so we spent the rest of the day in Leiden. A university town since 1575, Leiden is also noted for its Pilgrim connections. Before sailing to the New World on the Mayflower, the Pilgrims tried settling in Holland. They were tolerated there for about a decade before James I of England decided he should have control of their community. The Dutch had tolerated the group, but weren't going to defend them, so this group of Calvinists decided to set sail for America. Their first ship, the
Speedwell, didn't (it was leaky), so they stopped in Southampton to trade it for the Mayflower. The rest ... well, you should have learned it in history class. Anyway, there are a couple of plaques and the remains of a church in Leiden (which we saw), as well as a museum (which we didn't). John Robinson, the leader of the group, is also buried in Leiden.

Leiden was also a great place to see many examples of that other traditional symbol of Holland, the windmill. The one in this picture isn't anything particularly notable, just a very picturesque one we found while walking along Leiden's canals. Near the train station, however, is a whole museum about windmills, contained within a windmill. You climbed up and up and up, and each level revealed more of the inner workings of the mill. The museum mill had a platform surrounding the top level, which meant we had great views of the city (and of the windmill arms). It really gave you a hint of what life might have been like back when grain was milled by wind power and was transported via the waterways.

So all in all, we had a lovely time wandering around Holland. We had pleasant (if cold) weather, bucolic surroundings, and a very efficient and timely train system. (Maybe you can tell that's something unusual for us, living in England as we do.) Someday we'd love to come back to this area and see it by bicycle, as the land is very flat, but that might have to wait for sometime in the future (like, when David can pedal us around in a trailer, instead of the other way around).

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